Video cooks up trouble for popular El Paso restaurant L&J Cafe

A popular Mexican restaurant finds itself in the middle of online media brawl after a video of customers claiming to have seen a rodent in the restaurant Tuesday was posted on Facebook.

But El Paso Department of Health officials said they found no evidence of rodents at L&J's Café, a restaurant famous for its food and location next to Concordia Cemetery.

REPORTER

Adriana M. Chávez

According to the video posted on the Busted in El Paso Facebook page, the group of customers is seen arguing with at least three employees. The customers apparently walked out of the restaurant, located at 3622 Missouri Ave., without paying for their meals, and claimed they saw rodents inside.

"You don't have mice at your home? You don't have rodents at your home?" an employee who identifies herself as "Marina" asks the customers in the video.

The employee, in video, apologized to the customers before admitting the restaurant was experiencing an infestation due to construction at the restaurant, which was founded in 1927 by Antonio and Juanita Flores.

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According to the video, another employee told the customers that a manager was on the way, and offered them a discount after pointing out the customers finished their meals before walking out.

"There's never been a complaint," the employee told the customers while telling them about ongoing construction at the business.

Co-owner Leo Duran could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but on Wednesday morning he posted a message addressing the incident on the restaurant's Facebook page.

"In light of a recent misunderstanding with a customer, I wanted to assure everyone that L&J Café takes the health and safety of our customers extremely seriously," Duran wrote on the Facebook page. "We are taking immediate steps to address any concerns that this isolated incident might raise. We appreciate your loyalty and your business."

Armando Saldívar, a spokesman with the El Paso Department of Health, said health officials received a call reporting the alleged rodent problem about 9 a.m. Wednesday. Inspectors were sent to the restaurant after the complaint was received but the business was closed. They returned to the restaurant after it had opened for business for the day.

"When they (health inspectors) did get inside, they didn't find any evidence of rodents," Saldívar said.

Saldívar said inspectors used a black light to check the kitchen, walls and tables, and found no evidence of any infestation. Inspectors checked the restaurant's food preparation areas, dry storage containers and walk-in refrigerators. Employees at the restaurant also showed inspectors receipts from recent visits by exterminators.

"At this point, they plan on opening for business and there's nothing to stop that from happening," Saldívar said.

According to the health department's website, health officials last rated L&J's on June 7, 2011, when a routine inspection scored the restaurant at 63. A follow-up inspection on the same day re-scored the restaurant at 90.

"The routine inspection is the first inspection they do, and (inspectors) base their score on the second one," Saldívar said.

Sometimes re-inspections are needed if, for example, inspectors find hot food that is colder than the minimum temperature required by the health department. A re-inspection is done once the food is thrown out.

"They are due for another inspection soon," Saldívar said.

It's not clear whether the customers who complained ended up paying for their meals. Although one employee can be heard in the video stating the police had been called, an El Paso police spokesman said he couldn't find any reports filed in connection with the incident.

Many of the video's viewers left comments voicing their support of the restaurant, which has earned several awards and recognition for its food and success, and has mostly positive reviews on the user-driven restaurant review websites Yelp and Urban-spoon. Others complained about how the restaurant's employees handled the situation.

"It's obvious the staff are ... not trained appropriately as to how to handle complaints from customers," one commenter wrote. "It got out of control and only made matters (worse) for the restaurant."

Another wrote, "I LOVE L&J's and I believe they should be given the opportunity to fix the problem. I will say this, I frequent L&J's on a weekly basis and I've never seen a pest problem."

The popularity of the video on social media didn't seem to slow the typical lunch crowds, including law enforcement officers, office and blue-collar workers, on Wednesday. Construction crews were also seen at the restaurant Wednesday.

A remodeling and expansion project at the restaurant began last month and included the demolition of the rear of the restaurant's building. The project is expected to last about three more months.

Adriana M. Chávez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6117. Follow her on Twitter @AChavezEPTimes